Englewood man gets 10 years for sexually assualting two young children

An Englewood man’s repeated outbursts prompted a judge to remove him from the courtroom Thursday before he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting two young children in his care.

Superior Court Judge Liliana S. DeAvila-Silebi imposed the maximum term under a plea deal between prosecutors and Jahbriel El, 26, who has been jailed since his arrest in November 2010 for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls and a boy, ages 3 to 7.

El, who was indicted on 21 counts, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault last November involving two of the children, but later tried to withdraw his plea, claiming he was innocent.

DeAvila-Silebi, who ruled there was no basis for retracting the plea, ejected El from her courtroom after he became unruly and disrespectful, shouting over the judge and lawyers.

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Marybel Ramirez told the judge that “words cannot describe the horror of what happened that day.” She said her office entered into a plea deal with El because the mothers of the victims did not want to put their traumatized children through further anguish.

The three children were left in the custody of the defendant and another young woman who fell asleep before the abuse occurred, the prosecutor said. El told authorities he sexually assaulted the children because he was angry at his aunt, who did not trust him with the children, the prosecutor said.

Two of the victims described being forced to perform oral sex on El and other sex acts, Ramirez said, while a third child denied anything happened. The defendant also allegedly forced the boy to have sex with his little sister, under threat of being punished, she said.

The judge said El inflicted serious physical and psychological injury on the children.